Kei Igawa is the Definition of a Quad A Player

If you've watched baseball for a decent amount of your life you've probably heard the phrase "Quadruple A ball player" before. Essentially this means that the player has enough talent to dominate in Triple A but fail miserably in the Majors. There are countless players that fall under this category, both hitters and pitchers a like, but no one might fit that mold more so than the New York Yankees Japanese import Kei Igawa.

We all remember Kei Igawa as the "Milk Beaver" Yankees' response to the Red Sox signing of Dice-K. While Dice-K has been a success, Igawa was a miserable failure, posting a 6+ ERA over 12 starts in 2007 before being demoted to the minors. Than last season in his cup of coffee with the big league club Igawa posted an even worse 13.50 ERA and essentially banished himself from the Bronx for eternity.

With how Igawa's pitched in the spotlight you'd figure he would just go down to the minors and be just another mediocre pitcher. This has absolutely not been the case, and hence his Quad A status. In his three seasons with the Scranton Wilkes-Barre Yankees he has pitched very well. His record during this time 24-11. In 2007 his ERA and WHIP finished at 3.69 and 1.20 respectively. In each of the following seasons both of these numbers fell to the point where this season he's pitching to the tune of a 3.39 ERA and 1.10 WHIP and has been rewarded with a 5-1 record.

It's quite obvious that in the minor leagues Igawa is up to the task but in the American he's completely outmatched. He's simply a Quadruple A player.

As a Yankee fan I pray that they can convince a National League team to give Igawa a shot. This obviously will require them to eat the bulk of the contract but it would A) End the Igawa error and force the Yanke to admit a mistake and B)Would allow me to watch him get rocked again which I always find hilarious.